The Ordinary Raised To The Extraordinary
by amestheshiningstar
Summary: Mya was just an ordinary person living day to day carrying out her duties for the Alliance until she gets assigned to the SSV Normandy...where she meets a team of amazing people, and possibly the love of her life... This story is from the POV of an OC set during the events of all 3 games
1. Chapter 1

As Mya carefully packed the last of her regulation uniform into her bag she exhaled a deep breath she hadn't realised she had been holding until that moment. She sat on the edge of the bed in her small and cosy apartment and looked around somewhat wistfully, she always felt this way when it came time to deploy again. It was even more difficult this time, she had been 'home' for a year and a half…much longer than usual. In fact it was probably the longest stretch she had spent in her own home since taking out her mortgage four years ago. It wasn't anything grand, it only had two bedrooms, one living room, a fairly small bathroom and a modest sized kitchen. But it was hers, and over the past eighteen months she had finally got around to redecorating the place to exactly the way she wanted it…and now she was leaving for goodness knows where. All she knew was that she was to serve aboard a ship rather than remain planet side this time. This came with its own set of issues. Planet side deployments were at least inclusive of most of your home comforts…whereas when you were on board a ship you lost a lot of the luxuries such as proper food…long showers…shared accommodations…she could go on at length.

Mya's reverie was interrupted by a ping from her Omni tool. Snapping out of it, she raised her forearm and connected to her Alliance internal mail, she expected that this was crunch time, the moment of truth where she would finally learn where she was to serve for the foreseeable future.

"SSV Normandy? Huh…I've not heard of that one…must be a new build…maybe…could it be THE new build that we've been hearing whispers about for years?" Mya murmured out loud to her empty apartment. Her imagination started running wild almost immediately. She worked within Alliance Intelligence, specialising in monitoring comms for chatter and also foreign fleet movements. Basically it was a sit on your ass in front of a monitor all day type job, not forgetting her ultra-sensitive headphones. It often came as a shock to her crew mates when she would first meet them that she was in fact biotic and yet not being utilised in the field, it was something she wondered about herself all too frequently. She had nothing against field work either, she wouldn't have gone through Biotic training if she had…it was usually expected that Biotics would be headed straight for the front lines. In her case however, they had opted to make use of her linguistic and tech abilities instead. She had tried raising the issue with her superiors on more than one occasion and had been repeatedly told in blunt terms that if she wasn't happy with her situation she was always welcome to not reup once her contract was finished with.

Whilst she found her career strange, she had all but given up any chance of moving into the field at this point. She hadn't wanted to ever do anything else but be in the Alliance and therefore she wouldn't risk anything that might get her thrown out. Her father had been a military man, as had her grandfather, and his father. It was something of a tradition in her family and she felt proud to continue on in their footsteps, even if she was essentially desk bound.

"Well…let's go check out the Normandy then shall we…"

It was a short journey from her apartment in downtown Vancouver to the Alliance base, during which Mya found it exceedingly difficult to sit still. In spite of the fact that she had been loath to leave home, it would be exciting to serve on board a ship. Hopefully she would meet new people, make some new friends and see some new planets. It had been a wonderful break from the monotony of military life this past eighteen months, but one of the reasons she had enlisted in the first place was for the adventure and while she hated to admit it, she had been suffering itchy feet for a while now. Besides, perhaps it would be nice not to be living on her own for a while.

As her cab pulled up to the security checkpoint, she felt the familiar butterflies in her stomach that reminded her that her life was about to change completely and utterly. Her driver was kind enough to unload her bags from the trunk for her, in spite of the fact that it was hardly necessary. Mya may have looked somewhat puny at first glance, but she was certainly stronger than she appeared. There was no denying that she was petite, though she could more than take care of herself with her well-honed biotics or indeed most weapons. She had needed to pass basic training just the same as everyone else after all. After paying for her fare, Mya slung both bags easily over each shoulder and approached the gate with a broad smile. She knew John and Pete who were on duty today, they had checked her credentials many times before. Mya had been based here, and as such she knew this base like the back of her hand, she hadn't been travelling through in this manner however for quite some time.

"Oooh…today is the big day Pete…little Miss Mya is all grown up and deploying." John sighed and clutched his chest as though the thought of the separation was too painful.

"What will we do without her for the next year or so?" Pete echoed the sentiment, waggling his eyebrows at her playfully. Mya laughed heartily, she had needed the levity to ease her nerves, especially since as per usual there was nobody with her to send her off.

"More importantly what will you do without my baking? Or indeed my help in picking out gifts for your parents for birthdays and holidays?" Mya pointed out with a tilt of her head and a wink. The pair exchanged horrified glances before looking at her desperately.

"We can still reach you by email can't we? That way we can still pick your brain for gift advice?" John asked quickly. Mya chuckled and nodded. They were goofballs but she would miss these two.

"Of course you can, provided we have access wherever we happen to be in the big wide universe." Mya shrugged with a sad smile.

"Now, now…don't go making us jealous! You get to experience the vastness of Space, while we are stuck here doing checkpoint duty." John offered soothingly. Mya smiled and nodded. She knew she was fortunate, there were many who would love to be in her shoes, she just wished she knew somebody beforehand so she wouldn't feel so much like the new girl upon arrival.

"You're right, I am very lucky fellas. I will drop you both an email when I get situated." She promised, replacing her i.d in her breast pocket.

"Do that, we cannot wait to hear what you'll get up to. Travel safely Danson." Pete offered a genuine smile and a salute. She responded with a smile and salute of her own, before headed for the shuttle that would take her to the Normandy's dock.


	2. Chapter 2

Upon reaching the designated dock, Mya glanced around at the few others who had congregated already, most of whom were spending their last moments with family, a few others like herself were alone. A solitary dark and brooding figure caught her eye, and she couldn't help thinking he looked vaguely familiar, though for the life of her she couldn't put a name to the face. It was hardly surprising; throughout her alliance career she had met a lot of people. To her embarrassment she was caught staring and even though she was nothing short of mortified, she tried to look nonchalant and at ease, offering the stranger a grin.

"Normandy?" he asked striding over to her with a sincere smile. It was easy to return the smile, in spite of the fact she was sure her cheeks had flushed scarlet with embarrassment.

"That's right, you know much about what's happening?" she enquired dropping her bags to the floor gently. Her new acquaintance shook his head and shrugged.

"Not much of anything, I do know however that we won't be boarding her here…merely catching a transport to rendezvous with her on Arcturus." Mya's eyes widened as she mulled over this recent titbit of information. He regarded her thoughtfully before extending his hand. "Kaidan Alenko."

"Mya Danson…great to meet you. At least I feel like l know somebody now." She shook his hand firmly with a slightly nervous laugh. Kaidan smiled warmly.

"Wait til you get to know me better, then perhaps you won't consider yourself so fortunate." He teased raking his fingers through his short dark hair. Mya laughed heartily in spite of herself and shrugged.

"I guess only time will tell. What's your specialty?" she asked, starting to feel a little more comfortable. Kaidan shrugged and scratched the back of his neck a little self consciously.

"This and that…mostly marine grunt work…oorah!" He smiled. Mya nodded and shrugged.

"It could be worse you could be sitting in front of a console all day with your ears crushed by delightful headsets."

"Good point well made. Tech specialist?" he queried, lowering himself to the floor and leaning back against his bag and folding his arms across his chest. Mya followed suit and leaned against her own belongings, crossing her legs comfortably.

"Yeah I'm a bit of a Jack of all trades myself." she commented with a wry chuckle. Kaidan raised an eyebrow.

"Master of none?" he teased good naturedly.

"Depends on who you speak to." Mya replied with a wink. She took some satisfaction in noticing a blush rise to his cheeks this time. "Shouldn't be too much longer?" She added glancing at her omnitool. It surprised her that there weren't that many other people here, and it must have shown.

"Maybe there are others travelling from other bases?" Kaidan offered, wondering the same thing.

"That or this isn't shaping up to be a particularly large crew."

"Think of it this way…smaller lines for the showers."

"That is an excellent point." She conceded with a nod. "Gosh I'm starving already and I had a huge breakfast!" she muttered, pulling a sandwich from her bag that she had made the night before. Kaidan's eyes widened.

"You made a packed lunch? Why didn't I think of that?" he shook his head with a chuckle. Mya smiled and reached back into her rucksack and pulled out another neatly wrapped sandwich and offered it to him. "Are you sure?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Of course, I have plenty in there, I had to use up the contents of my fridge, so there is quite literally a little bit of everything in these sandwiches." She handed it to him before taking a bite of her own. Kaidan did the same.

"You weren't lying, there's a lot in this sandwich, I'm guessing this is the last taste of proper food I'm getting for a long while, I intend to savour it, Damned metabolism" He muttered between bites.

"Biotic?" she queried knowingly. He nodded and swallowed.

"Yep, one of the many wondrous side effects"

"I know it only too well." Mya agreed knowingly. His eyes widened.

"You too? But, why are you a tech specialist then? Didn't you get advanced biotic combat training when you enlisted?" he asked utterly confused.

"I did, and I ask the same question to every C.O I've ever had, nobody has ever been able to tell me why my training has never been utilised, perhaps our new C.O will be a little more forthcoming. I have my suspicions though."

"Oh?"

"Family, I come from a family who have served in the military for centuries. The men enlist, the women tend to marry military rather than enlisting themselves, I was the first female to enlist in over sixty years, I get the feeling my parents weren't exactly thrilled about it, and I think my dad called in some favours to get me benched, or rather parked behind a desk instead of on the front line." Her gaze dropped to her well shined boots. Kaidan gave a low whistle and shook his head.

"It negates everything you've worked for, I'd be sore about it, if it were me."

"Yea, I'm not thrilled about it myself, but I'd rather serve than not, no matter what capacity it happens to be in."

"I know what you mean, your blood family is important, but there's nothing quite like your military family is there?" he said softly.

"You've hit the nail on the head." She met his gaze shyly. He nodded in agreement.

"Well, you'll be stuck with the lot of us for the next couple of years, goodness knows what we'll be up to." He mumbled, finishing off his sandwich and folding his now empty wrapper and placing it in his pocket.

"I'm hoping we get some time on the Citadel, I haven't been there in maybe, six years? And even then I was so wide eyed and bushy tailed I didn't really get doing much." Mya's voice trailed off as a shuttle came in to land, at which point all conversation ceased among those waiting.

"Next stop, Arcturus!" Kaidan sighed, climbing to his feet and offering her a hand up. Mya took it and hopped lightly to her own feet, dusting off her uniform before gathering her bags and striding to the shuttle. The butterflies were back, now that she was really going, she couldn't wait to see the Normandy. She was thankful to have met Kaidan, at least now she didn't feel so alone and hopefully the trip to Arcturus would go in a little faster with some company. All in all it hadn't been a bad start thus far.


End file.
